Drones for Good

Conservation, medical delivery, disaster response — the missions where drones save the day.

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Sep 30

Last updated

Rescue drone reaching stranded hikers near Loveland Pass in Colorado

Search & Rescue

Colorado Rescue Drone Talks Hikers Through A Lightning Storm

A camera-and-speaker drone reached two stranded hikers near Loveland Pass before ground rescuers could, guiding them through a lightning storm.

Rafael SuárezJul 31

Paws Patrol LV thermal drone donation for animal rescue searches in Las Vegas

Search & Rescue

Paws Patrol LV Gets Two Thermal Drones After Sky Knockdown

A Montana hotel owner donated two thermal drones to Paws Patrol LV after people in a Las Vegas wash knocked the animal rescue group's $7,000 drone out of the sky during a search for an injured dog. The dog remains missing.

Rafael SuárezJul 28

Ocean County Sheriff's Office drone delivering a flotation device to a swimmer off Surf City, New Jersey

Search & Rescue

Ocean County Drone Reaches Swimmer After Lifeguards Left

An Ocean County sheriff's drone dropped a Restube flotation device to a young swimmer caught in a rip current off Surf City after lifeguards had gone home for the day.

Rafael SuárezJul 25

Firefighters working the Babylon Fire in San Juan County, Utah as drones support containment

Wildfire

Drones Patrol Utah's Babylon Fire As Containment Nears 100%

As Utah’s Babylon Fire nears full containment, incident teams say drones helped locate hot spots, monitor rough terrain, and confirm a fresh lightning strike before it could start another blaze.

Rafael SuárezJul 25

Fire and Rescue NSW drone team uses AI-assisted search tools in Kosciuszko National Park

Search & Rescue

Fire and Rescue NSW AI Drone Finds Lost Hikers in 5 Hours

Two hikers who went missing off the Dead Horse Gap track in Kosciuszko National Park were located within five hours after Fire and Rescue NSW deployed a drone team using AI-assisted detection software. The rescue is the agency's first operational AI find, and it offers a rare look at how human pilots and low-threshold machine vision actually work together in the field.

Rafael SuárezJul 22

Cal Fire and FireWERX field-test Seneca autonomous firefighting drones in California

Wildfire

Cal Fire Tests Seneca Drone Packs That Launch Themselves

Cal Fire spent July 15 field-testing Seneca's autonomous firefighting drones with FireWERX in California, giving the nine-month-old startup its clearest public proving-ground yet with a state agency. The five-drone foam strike-team concept now has to prove it can survive real wildfire airspace and turn demos into contracts.

Rafael SuárezJul 22

Cyborg cockroaches carrying electronic backpacks help rescue teams search collapsed buildings for earthquake survivors.

Search & Rescue

Cockroach Drones Are Searching Venezuela's Earthquake Rubble

Cyborg cockroaches fitted with electronic backpacks are now searching earthquake rubble in Venezuela, showing how biohybrid rescue tools have moved from lab experiments to real disaster response. The insects can crawl through voids that rescuers and wheeled robots cannot reach, carrying sensors that may help locate survivors.

Rafael SuárezJul 20

James City County AED delivery drone used in the Virginia pilot

Drone as First Responder

James City County Flies Virginia's First AED Drone Trial

James City County, Virginia will begin dispatching AED-carrying drones to suspected cardiac arrest calls on August 1, starting a five-mile pilot around Fire Station 1 in Toano. The Duke- and VCU-led RESTORe-CARE study is expanding from North Carolina into a second live U.S. county program.

Rafael SuárezJul 20

Drones for Good

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